At the meeting of the Staff Council Executive on 5th April, agreement was reached in partnership on a number of questions and answers that have arisen with the national rollout of Agenda for Change.
The attachments to this Reps Direct provide; a statement on the commitment to a partnership (below) approach to the production of questions and answers; two sets of questions and answers (January 2005 and March 2005) ; and clarification on the issue of Agenda for Change’s application to NHS senior managers (below). The questions and answers will be posted on the NHS employers' website and apply across the UK.
Which senior managers in England are covered by Agenda for Change?
The NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook makes clear that there will be separate arrangements for the most senior managers working in the NHS. These will be defined as Chief Executives and those senior managers at board level who report directly to them. These are expected to be announced shortly by the Department of Health.
The Agenda for Change provisions will be available to all other managers who should be offered the opportunity to move onto Agenda for Change pay, terms and conditions backdated to 1 October 2004.
Partnership
The Agenda for Change partners will make every effort to continue to support, encourage and promote a partnership approach to implementation of the new pay system at local level. The agreement to work in partnership to deliver a new NHS pay system which supports NHS service modernisation and meets the reasonable aspirations of staff should, therefore, be replicated at local level.
This guidance has been jointly agreed in partnership by the NHS Staff Council Executive and is intended to help in situations where, locally, the joint partners have not so far been able to agree a suitable way forward. These answers reflect the final Agenda for Change agreement and jointly agreed guidance issued by us for use in EI sites.
This list of questions and answers refers to the final version of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook as agreed by NHS employer and staff representatives for the new Agenda for Change Pay System, published January 2005.
(Wednesday 6 April 2005)